


The Agents and the World

by Kia619



Series: Angstgent 24 [2]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Agent 3 scar, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Lesbian Cephalopods (Splatoon), Nightmares, Octopi & Squid, Ponytail Agent 8, Post-Octo Expansion DLC, Updates on sunday, Visible and emotional scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2020-12-27 02:20:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21111077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kia619/pseuds/Kia619
Summary: Three and Eight are starting to realize their feelings for each other, and both of them are excited and also terrified at what that could mean. Meanwhile, they both individually deal with the visible and emotional scars that Kamabo left them with.





	1. Dreams

Eight was once again in the metro, she could see nothing but the faint glow of the screen her CQ-80 gave off. She looked over the map and spotted the several stations she still needed to complete, challenges that would no doubt test her very sanity. But the promise of freedom was too sweet, so she pressed onwards.    
  
The train took off as she selected a station, lights seemed to flicker as they passed by the windows of the subway train. The train was oddly empty for once, not even the Cap’n was on board with her. It was just her and C.Q. Cumber. After a few brief moments of waiting, the train arrives at her selected station. She doesn’t remember what weapon options she had, she just wanted to get the test over with quick so she grabbed the “Recommended” one. It was an Octo Shot with the splat bomb sub weapon. She tapped her C.Q. 80 to the terminal and it withdrew her C.Q. points and the doors opened as she flew through them. She looked around and she was inside what seemed to be a small square room, with minimal cover. A cylinder on one side and some kind of power box on the other. The whole station felt quiet, there was no music like there usually was, though that music was usually distant and coming from very old speakers.

She raised her weapon in anticipation, but then she spotted something, something that made her ink run cold. There, standing across from her, was Agent 3. Fully geared for a battle to the bitter end. Her face was determined and she her eyes were fixed on Eight, her Hero Shot in her hands and ready to fight.

“No this can’t be right.” Eight thought. “This was never one of the tests!”

Agent 3 dove to the side and threw a splat bomb at her, Eight had to think quick and move quicker. Three is inking the ground and the walls, her standing space is quickly running out. Eight turns to fire, spreading her own ink across the ground and trying to get any advantage she could. She swims through her ink to flank Three, but Three cuts her off by firing her own ink on the ground in front of her path causing Eight to have to come out from the ink and fight.

Three was too fast for her, every time she thought she’d inked enough turf to escape, somehow her path was blocked again. Any time she thought she could ink Three up enough to slow her down, she’d roll to the side and roll out a splat bomb. Eight was running out of space and options, Three was merciless and kept up her assault. She was covered in her orange ink which stung, it felt like it was burning her skin, she wanted this fight to end. She tried using her CQ-80 to cancel the test and return her to the Metro, but Three knocked it out of her hands as soon as she pulled it out. The CQ-80 skittered across the ground away from Eight, she had to dodge backwards quickly as Three had her hero shot aimed right at her face as soon as the device was out of her hands. Eight swept Three’s feet out from under her, but she couldn’t bring herself to shoot her. She inked up the turf around Three and quickly swam away, popping out to ink more ground as needed.

Eight was tired, she was covered in enemy ink that was eating away at her form, and she didn’t know what to do. Pearl and Marina weren’t able to help her because she didn’t have her CQ-80 anymore. Eight spotted Three diving out from behind cover and making her way towards her. Eight couldn’t fight anymore, her body wouldn’t let her. Eight just slumped to her knees as Three somehow pulled out a roller and brings it crashing down on to Eight’s head.

Eight awoke with a yelp. She was sweating, her breaths were shallow and rapid, her hearts were racing. She closed her eyes and slowly breathed in through her nose, held it for a moment, then released, allowing her hearts rate to slow down. She grounded herself in the moment, she was on the surface, she was safe. Pearl and Marina were taking care of her. Then she noticed something, her room didn’t smell normal. She took in another smell. She smelled, old ink and body odor? It wasn’t strong, but it was definitely there.

She opened her eyes again and tried to figure out where she was. She couldn’t see much in the darkened room, but what she could see was a small room, a dresser to her left that looks like it’d been torn apart in search of clothes, to the left of it there was a mirror, and then she was looking at the wall that the headboard of the bed was on, there was a window near the dresser, and then to the other side of the room, she spotted a closet. Then, looking to the opposite end of the room from the bed, she could make out an overflowing clothes hamper, and a slightly ajar door she assumed lead to a bathroom. Oh, and to the right of the dresser was what she assumed to be the door that lead out of the bedroom.

Suddenly memories came flooding back to her. She remembered being up on the roof watching the sunset with Three, she remembered Three seeming happy, much happier than when she saw her in Octo Canyon. She remembered how nicely Three’s hand seemed to fit with her own. But most importantly, she remembered just how comfortable Three’s shoulder was as the night faded in and overtook the day. 

“Shit! I fell asleep!” Eight murmurs under her breath, unsure of where Three is at the moment and not wanting to wake her. Especially after that nightmare, the last thing she wanted was to give Three a reason to make it a reality.

“Pearl and Marina are gonna kill me!” Eight whipped out her phone, fully expecting it to be plastered with notifications of missed calls, tons of messages, and the promise of a lecture. But instead, when the screen lit up, it somehow said she only had one message from Marina. 

Reluctantly, Eight swiped open the message, fully prepared for a five hundred word essay on how in trouble she was for not coming home. To her relief however, the message was short.

\--

Marina: Hey just checking in, Marie called and said you had fallen asleep over at Three’s place. Message me back when you read this, I just want to make sure you’re okay. We hope you had fun and stayed safe! If you need anything be sure to message us!

Eight smiled, Three had made sure Pearl and Marina knew she’d passed out, and she couldn’t be more thankful. Quickly she jotted out a reply, though her brain was still slightly foggy from having just woken up.

TheGr8agent8: Hey Marina, just got your message. I’m okay, I had a great time with Three. I’ll be home sometime in the morning probably.

\--

Eight smiled and locked her phone, setting it down on the bed beside her. She noticed, with the faint light of the city coming in through the window, that the side of the bed opposite to where she was laying seemed to have a little dip in it, almost like that was where Three always laid. Had Three intentionally put her on the other side of where she normally lays? Maybe Three intended to sleep in her own bed as well but felt awkward with Eight there. Actually, speaking of Three, where was she?

Three was in the midst of her own dreams.

She could see everything around her, the battlefield was small but plenty large for a 1v1. Slowly she realized that rising up through the floor was  _ her _ . It was Eight! Three wanted to call out to her but her face burned and her body shifted in ways that made her teeth hurt. She saw her Hero Shot rising into view and she tried to stop herself, but she couldn’t. Three watched in horror as her own body fought and tried to end Eight. The battlefield was a mess of aqua and magenta, her body felt like it had been dragged through hell and every motion it makes causes her agony. 

Eight was losing, she was covered in ink and Three knew it was only a matter of moments before it was over. She fought to try and take back control of her own body, but all she could do was watch as she knocked the Octo Shot out of Eight’s hands and backed her into a corner. Three wanted to end this nightmare, she didn’t want to hurt Eight. But she felt her finger slowly start to squeeze the trigger and she silently screamed, but just before she could pull the trigger all the way, she felt her legs get swept out from under her, her head slamming against the ground hard. She spotted eight grabbing her OctoShot off the ground and turning towards Three, aiming it right at her. Three practically begged her to do it, she couldn’t live with herself if she hurt her. In a flash she saw a torrent of Magenta ink flung at her face, and just like that, she was awake again.

Three sat up on her couch, and looked around. She wasn’t screaming, but her body was sweaty and she felt like shit. She knew Eight was likely still asleep in her room, and she didn’t want to bother her. So she stands up and walks over to the kitchen, snags a cup out of the cupboard and fills it with water from the tap before downing it in one second. Setting the cup back in the sink, Three makes her way back over to the couch and lays back down. She sighs quietly to herself. This dream wasn’t the worst dream she’d had since Kamabo, but it was certainly the most… real.

It felt less like a dream and more like a hazy partial memory. Had that been what happened? They had only told her that she tried to splat Eight while under Tartar’s control, but if that dream was what really happened, Eight was lucky to have won. But she decided not to dwell on it, if that is what happened then she’s glad it did. She just wishes she could’ve avoided getting her mind taken over all together, but she has long since learned not to dwell on things that can’t be changed.

Three then heard something that made her heart flutter a little, she heard her own bedroom door click open. Then she heard quiet footsteps making their way closer and closer towards her. With the faint light of the clocks on her oven and microwave, as well as the gentle glow of the city coming in through the window, Three could just barely make out the form of Eight standing just behind the couch.

“Psst, hey Three, you awake?” Eight spoke softly but with purpose, her voice sounded shaky almost like she’d seen a demon.

“Yeah” Three sat up slightly to get a better look at Eight as she rounded the couch and sat down next to Three’s feet.

Eight’s breaths were still shallow, with Eight now sitting closer Three could see the small tentacles that flanked her face were curled up tightly and she was practically shaking.

“Eight… are you okay?” Three sits up all the way and moves closer to Eight so they’re sitting right next to each other. Eight glances at Three but then looks away before finally speaking.

“I-I had a nightmare.” Eight curls up into a ball beside Three, her feet on the couch cushion she sat on and her knees against her face. Three could hear faint sobs coming from her.

Three, without even thinking, wraps her arms around the poor girl. She holds Eight’s head gently and subconsciously she gently rubs her head as well. Slowly Three feels Eight’s body relax, everything beginning to loosen up. She feels Eight turn slightly to wrap her own arms around Three’s chest, and she holds tightly. Three is more than happy to let her, especially because she knows that Eight needs the solace right now. Though she’d never admit it, Three needed it as well.

“You’re okay Eight, your dreams can’t get you here. Nothing will. I promise.” Three tightens her grip on Eight, letting out a gentle sigh, not wanting to let go ever. “I’ve got you, I promise I’ll never let anything like that happen to you again.”

Eight sniffled as she pressed her face into Three’s chest harder. Three didn’t dare move, she only wanted the girl in her arms to be okay. Three could hear Eight’s breaths slowly become more normal. She slowly stopped shaking as well. Soon Eight only had faint signs of a sob every so often as she held tightly to Three. Three could tell Eight was starting to feel better, but she’d continue to hold her for as long as Eight needed.

“Th-thank you.” Eight choked out between muffled sobs, her breathing almost back to normal but a few stray tears linger in her eyes.

“Any time, I’m here for you.” Three didn’t smile, but she did mean her words. This was such a stark difference from what Eight had been like during the day. Three has no problems holding Eight and helping her get back to not feeling distressed.

Eight didn’t want to move, and she didn’t for a very long time. Eventually however Eight started feeling herself want to sleep again. She let out a quiet yawn which caught the attention of Three.

“It’s still late, you should go back to sleep Eight.” Three sighed, brushing Eight’s face gently to clear away any stray tears that haven’t dried.

Eight nodded. It was only 3am, even if she wanted to go home there’d be really no safe way there. So she’d stay. Not that she wanted to leave at all. Three had been so kind to her and this moment was nice, even though it was caused by a horrible nightmare.

“I don’t want to take your bed from you though. You’ve done so much for me already I-” Three cut her off by placing her finger over her mouth.

“It’s no problem. I am happy to give up my bed for you.” Three smiled at Eight which causes her to blush, and quietly Three gets up and leads Eight back to the bedroom.

“Sleep well Eight, if you have another nightmare, you know where I am.” Three said as she stood in the doorway to what was usually her own room.

Eight nodded. “Thank you Three, for everything.”   
  
“Y-you’re welcome.” Three blushed lightly as she switched off the light and closed the door. Once again Three makes her way over to the couch so she can go back to sleep. She hopes Eight has a much more restful rest of the night.

Finally laying down and covering herself, Three feels sleep begin to take her quickly, she needed a lot more rest and her body wasn’t about to pass it up.

Neither Eight nor Three had any more nightmares that night.


	2. New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pancakes. That is all.

Three awoke with a loud yawn, she could smell something delicious and it was making her mouth water. It smelled like… pancakes? It was definitely pancakes. But why would she be smelling pancakes?    
  
Three sits up and looks around. Oh yeah she slept on the couch, that’s right. She looks around as her eyes adjust to the light. Finally once she feels like she can see again, she looks over to the kitchen and her hearts melt.   
  
Three sees Eight, standing in front of her stove, with her hoodie still draped over her shoulders, except it looks like she’s got her arms slipped through the sleeves as well. Eight was a filthy hoodie thief! Three smiled to herself before tossing aside her blanket and standing to stretch, loosening her muscles and making it easier for her to exist. All the commotion of Three getting up must’ve alerted Eight to the fact that Three was no longer in her temporary comatose state because she quickly turns to face Three once she’s done stretching.

“Ah! Good morning Three! I saw you had pancake mix and figured you might want some for breakfast.” Eight beamed like a ray of sunshine in a dark and dreary world.

Three let out a yawn before finally walking over to the kitchen where Eight was.

  
“Thank you Eight, you didn’t have to do this.” Three smiles, she doesn’t know what else to do to show her gratitude. Even if it’s from a mix, this is the first home cooked meal she’s had since before Kamabo.

“It’s the least I could do, you gave me your bed and also helped me out when I had a nightmare. So I figured I owed you one.” Eight blushes and glances away from Three, she had done so much for her and been so nice.   
  


Three appreciatively places her hand on Eights shoulder. “You don’t owe me for anything, but I will gladly accept these pancakes cuz I am starving.”   
  
Eight giggled before finishing up the last pancake. “Ah there we go.” She placed the last one carefully on the stack before sticking the pan in the sink and dousing it with water making it sizzle.

“Alright don’t let them get cold.” Eight says turning around as Three grabs an empty plate and plops a few pancakes on it. “Oh by the way, I don’t know where your syrup is so I couldn’t have it pulled out.”   
  
“Nah, that's fine, it’s in the fridge. It throws most people off.” Three pops open the fridge, snags the syrup out of it, then swiftly kicks it closed again and brings her plate and the syrup to the table.

Eight follows suit after grabbing a few pancakes as well. Soon they’re both stuffing their faces full of the delicious concoction, Eight put a sensible amount of syrup on her pancakes. Three does not. Three emptied half the bottle onto her pancakes, and as she eats she’s getting it all over her face, just like the sauce last night.

“My gods Three, how are you so messy.” Eight chuckles as she takes another bite of her own meal. Three didn’t care what others thought about her, she just did what made her happy, that was something Eight couldn’t help but admire about the Inkling.

“Skills that’s how.” Three promptly shoves another half pancake into her mouth like some kind of monster. Eight just rolls her eyes and eats her pancakes sensibly. The pair exchange a few idle giggles as Three continues to be a menace to civilised inkling society. 

Before long, however, they’re both done eating. Three insists on cleaning up since Eight went through the effort of making breakfast. Three’s dishwasher was actually pretty full after putting their plates, cutlery, and the pan into it, so Three decides to run it. May as well so she has clean dishes to use for the microwavable garbage she will likely be consuming once Eight is no longer around.

  
  


Three glances towards her turf gear, it’s been a little while since she’s had the chance to use it, what with her scar making it impossible to compete. But she felt like it wasn’t going to bother her today, so she decides it would be good to get in some battles, if only to keep herself from getting rusty.

“Alright, well I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna head over to Inkopolis Square and play some Turf Wars. I need to get my ink pumping. You’re free to join me if you like, just be warned I will have no mercy if you’re on the opposing team.” Three winked as she grabbed her bag with her ink tank and her Hero Shot “Replica”. Sheldon had managed to swap out the sub and special weapon tokens inside of it allowing her to continue to use her old gun instead of having to swap to something new. She was very appreciative of Sheldon for doing that.

“Well… maybe a few rounds. I just need to grab my Ink tank and Octo Shot from home.” Eight smiled as she bounded her way up to Three. She was still wearing her teeshirt and jeans from the day before, but she had her baseball cap tucked under her left arm, and she was still wearing Three’s hoodie too “Ready to go?”

Three smiled and turned away so Eight wouldn’t see her blush.    
  
“Y-Yeah, let’s get going!” Three pushed open the door to the apartment and locked it behind them as they left.

\--

After a brief superjump, they were at Pearl and Marina’s house. Eight had told Three that it would likely surprise her how large it was, especially compared to her apartment. Eight had been very quick to assure Three that she thought her apartment was lovely and plenty big and that Pearl and Marina just simply had too much space.   
  
Well the reality of Eight’s words truly dawned on Three when they walked away from the landing zone and into the courtyard of Pearl and Marina’s Mansion. It was unlike Three could’ve ever imagined. The courtyard had a fountain in the middle surrounded by stone walkways and luscious gardens with various flowers. Upon closer inspection, the fountain itself had an inkling and an octoling, in their squid and octo forms respectively, jumping into the air with a splash of ink around them. Or at least that’s what Three assumed it was. 

But then Three got a view of the mansion itself, and the sight before her was not what she expected at all. It was… big. Three couldn’t quite believe how big it was. It was like the size of inkopolis square itself, and it had to be at least three stories tall, maybe four, but that’s another storey. 

Eight insisted that Three come in with her, and Three not wanting to disappoint, obliged. Upon entering, Three concluded that the house was bigger on the inside, because there was just so much SPACE! 

“How. In the world. Do you not get lost in here.” Three’s jaw was held wide open as she scanned the area she was in. The entryway had a floormat they were standing on, leading away from it there was a sculpture in the middle of both Pearl and Marina doing their “Stay off the Hook!” pose, and flanking the sculpture on either side was a curved staircase that lead to the next level. Directly behind the sculpture was an elevator, because of course they have an elevator.

“Honestly I said the same thing when I first got here. Fortunately, Marina insisted on labeling all the doors, so you can usually figure out which part of the house you’re in by what room you’re near.” Eight shrugged idly, she’d gotten used to how absurd their house was.

Three’s face changed from “awe” to “What the literal fuck” In a matter of seconds, Eight, hearing this silent communication loud and clear, continued her explanation.

“Honestly a lot of the rooms are just storage, old props from shows, memorabilia that didn’t get sold, some stuff they only give out to people they know. Honestly I think Pearl might be a hoarder, but Marina at least keeps the hoarding organized.”

Three chuckles a bit at that comment, and as if being summoned by the mentions of their names, Pearl and Marina enter the room from opposite sides, but in perfect synchronization.

“Oh hey Eight, hey Three. Glad to see you two still alive.” Pearl states as she approaches the pair standing in their front room.

“Yes, thank you for thinking to let us know she would be staying overnight Three, we appreciate it.” Marina continued.

“Hey it’s no problem, she seemed like she needed sleep so I just kina let her sleep.” Three blushes and rubs her neck. Eight blushes and looks to the floor.

“Well that’s good. So what brings you to our home today Three? Just taking Eight home, or?” Pearl inquires as she folds her arms.

“OH! Eight and I were gonna go do some Turf Wars, she said she needed to grab her ink tank and weapon though. I was gonna wait outside but she insisted I come in.”

“Alright, Eight you know where it is. We just want to… have a chat with Three.” Marina smiles, Eight nods and runs off. 

Once Eight is out of sight, Marina turns back to Three, her eyes scream murder but her smile screams “it’ll look like an accident.” And Pearl now had her Dualies out… where did those come from?   
  
“So Three… What are your intentions with Eight?” Marina’s voice rang inside of Three’s mind like a bell, it wouldn’t stop and she felt herself sweating. Three could feel her soul leaving her body with every passing second.

“U-uh well, really I just want to get to know her better! Her and I seem to get along well and um… I think she’s kinda cute?” Three blushed and gulped. 

Marina places her hand firmly on Three’s shoulder. This is it, Three thought, this is where she dies. They’d unplug all the spawns and splat her and there’d be nothing left but ink.

“Did you… DO anything last night?” Pearls voice rings equally loud in Three’s mind, but rather than like a bell it was more like a car horn, more alarming and concerning.

“Wh- oh FUCK no! For one, she fell asleep! That would be wrong!” Three calls out. “Why would we do anything of that nature anyways? It wasn’t even a date!”   
  
Marina looks at Pearl, who looks back to Marina. Oh gods a silent conversation, Three HATED these, Callie and Marie would do it all the time and it pissed her off. 

“So, you take a girl out for coffee, end up spending the entire afternoon chatting, then you take her to dinner and insist on paying, and THEN said girl falls asleep on you as you watch the sunset… and you DON’T think that’s a date?” Marina cocked an eyebrow.    
  
“Wait what, who told you what happened?” Three paused. Then brought her palm to her forehead. “It was Marie wasn’t it.”

Both Pearl and Marina nod as Marina pulls her hand off Three’s shoulder and Pearl puts away her dualies. Both of them were smirking. 

“You’re fucking with me aren’t you?” Three sighs, Pearl fucking chortles and Marina giggles.   
  
“I’m sorry Three, we figured you didn’t have any ill-willed intentions, but it was…  _ too easy _ .” Marina manages to get out through her giggles.    
  
“Whopdeefucking-doo. Now I wish you HAD splatted me.” Three rolls her eyes, but quickly spots Eight returning with her ink tank and Octo Shot. “Oh! Eight!”   
  
Pearl and Marina quickly compose themselves, trying to appear like they weren’t just having the worlds best laughing session. 

Eight looks to Three before smiling and asking “Ready to go? It’ll be fun to play with someone I know instead of by myself!”

Three smiles back and blushes a little. “Y-yeah! Let’s go!” 

Eight said her goodbyes to Pearl and Marina, and then her and Three head out to Inkopolis Square. 

Eight and Three were almost always on the same team, and as such, were both winning a lot of games. Sure there’d be the odd match where they got split up, but those matches wound up being almost too close to call. 

So in short, Three was having a fucking blast, and Eight was just happy to be there. They often switches up lobbies so they wouldn’t be playing against the exact same group every time, which the other players were grateful for. Before long they’d both acquired enough extra cash from winning so many matches that they honestly would probably be set for a few months. 

As the day drew to a close, Eight and Three had just finished up their last match of the day, another landslide victory for the pair. Turf Wars paid surprisingly well for effectively being just a drop in sport. But enough people enjoyed just watching that it brought in enough revenue to allow the players to get a kickback. 

“That was so much fun! Thank you Three!” Eight squealed with delight.

Three couldn’t help but chuckle at Eights delight. “Heh, it’s no problem Eight. Honestly I’m happy to finally have someone to play with.”    
  
Eight hugged Three without warning, which caught Three off guard, but soon she was returning the gesture. Eight then pulled away from the hug slowly, and Three could see a visible blush on the girls face. Before she could ask, Eight quickly pecked Three on the cheek.

Three blushed hard, oh my gods did that just happen? Three couldn’t even form words. Her entire face was orange. 

“Um, th-thanks again.” Eight bit her lip as she averted her gaze.   
  
“A-Anytime…” Three replied while doing the same.

No more words were shared between the pair, but they could both feel something within them growing, and neither could deny it now. They both headed home thinking about how cute the other looked when they blushed.


	3. Well that’s just gross

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Three and Eight get to know each other better, Marie spends some time studying goop.

Agent 3 and Agent 8 spent nearly a month repeating that day, sometimes they’d mix it up and play a little bit of ranked to get some variety, but overall they were just enjoying playing together. Eight still froze up whenever she heard a curling bomb, but it was only for a moment. Three took note of this and made sure she didn’t ever use a curling bomb or curling bomb launcher. 

They often found themselves stopping for dinner together after a day of battling. They constantly made so much extra cash from their battles that they never really had to worry about how much money they spent on going out to eat. However, since they didn’t want to spend ALL of their earnings on food they did sometimes go back to Three’s apartment and would watch movies, or they’d go to Pearl and Marina’s and do the same, albeit on a much larger TV with much comfier seating.

All of this was not going unnoticed by Marie. She liked to keep tabs on her fellow agents, and she found it particularly interesting just how outgoing Three was when she was with Eight. Now sure, in the past Three hadn’t been some stoic unwavering hardass, quite the opposite, but she did seem different after Kamabo. She was more shut in, she tried to put up a mask to try and be stronger or something, but Eight seemed to bring a little bit of the old Three back. Marie was very grateful to Eight for this, she could tell Eight meant a lot to Three, and vice versa.

Marie jotted down in her notebook that things seem to be looking up for Three, something she was very grateful for. She finishes writing down her notes then returned to the task at hand. She had a sample of Kamabo… ‘ink’ and they needed to see what could be done to counteract it. She decided to do the test in the landing area of Octo Canyon, partially because it was a private place with no prying eyes. Interestingly, after helping Three when her scar flared up, Marie had the idea to see how it would react when it touched an ice cube. 

She carefully set up the ink tank that was full of Kamabo sludge, that’s a better name for it. She delicately removes the top of the ink tank, oh gods the smell was horrible. It was like someone thought the smell of corpses was too nice and needed to make a worse smell. Marie snags an Ice cube from her pack, and drops it inside the tank. The goop flashes brightly for a moment before… 

“Wait what. It’s all gone? All of it?” Marie looks at the now empty ink tank completely bewildered, she had expected maybe for it to slowly dissipate, not just outright evaporate!   
  
Just then, Callie jumps through the grate and spots Marie staring quizzically at an empty ink tank. Marie had told her she would be here today and she wanted to stop by and say hi. She was puzzled at why she was so confused about the empty ink tank, it looked like any other ink tank she’d ever seen.

“So uh, whatcha doin’?” Callie calls out from behind Marie to announce her presence.

“OH FUCK, CALLIE!” Marie turns to face Callie and clutches at her chest, falling slightly backwards but catching herself with the arm not presently pressed against her chest, startled by the sudden intrusion.

“Are you telling me to go fuck myself or?” Callie smiles, her joke managing to calm Marie down somewhat. She makes her way over to Marie and sits down across from her and the ink tank, curious about what the significance of it is.

“Har har, you startled me is all.” Marie rolls her eyes and returns to her normal sitting position, brushing herself off to regain her composure fully.   
  
“So what’s with the empty ink tank? I thought you were running tests on that Kamabo shit.” Callie says, adjusting her sitting position so she’s more comfortable, her legs are crossed and her hands are on her knees.   
  
“That’s just it, I did. I dropped in one ice cube and the entire tank’s worth disappeared.” Marie gestures towards the empty ink tank, however she knows Callie likely wouldn’t believe her if she didn’t see it, produced another ink tank full of Kamabo Sludge.

“Just watch.” Marie flips open the tank, Marie was prepared but Callie gagged at the smell. Marie quickly produces another ice cube, and drops it in. Once again, it flashes brightly, then all the ink is gone.

“Wha- how?” Callie questions.

“My best guess would be, in the underground facilities of Kamabo, it is very hot and humid. So the ink had to be able to survive down there like that. So as a result, cold doesn’t agree with it. Ice makes it outright vaporize.” Marie shrugs, it’s a theory but it’s a theory with evidence. She still wishes she knew more about the stuff though so she’d likely have to return to Kamabo at some point to get more samples.

“I guess that makes sense. Where’d you get the idea to try ice anyways?” Callie sways idly back and forth, she has so much energy all the time and has to expend it somehow.   
  
“I went over to Three’s place after I found out about… you know.” She glances towards her cousin, silently communicating what she meant.   
  
Callie blushed.

“Her scar acted up, I thought maybe some ice might soothe the pain, especially since it was so bad she up and passed out. But what I didn’t expect was as soon as I put the ice pack on the scar, her entire body stopped convulsing and it relaxed.” Marie paused while glancing between Callie and the two empty ink tanks.

“Well… I’m glad you were able to help her, she seemed pretty cagy after the incident.” Callie states as she opens up her bag and rummages through it, she pulls out and offers Marie a can of cola. “Here, you’ve been working yourself too hard, you need a break.”   
  
Marie takes the can and cracks it open. “Thanks Callie, I appreciate it.” She takes a sip, sets the can down for a moment, then packs away the now empty ink tanks. She then snags the can off the ground and resumes the consumption.

“We’ll need to get this information to Three, I bet with any luck we might be able to prevent another flare up from happening ever again.” Marie states between sips.

Callie nods, cracking open her own can as well.

“I agree. Speaking of agents, how’s Agent 4 been doing? I’ve not seen her much since she thwacked those hypnoshades off me.” Callie shrugs as she takes another drink, making a slight slurping noise.

“Maybe she’s avoiding you because you kept putting them back on.” Marie smirks at her, she knew it was part of the hypnotization that made her put them back on, but still it was a little amusing.   
  
“... Point taken.” Callie averted her gaze slightly.

“But if you MUST know, Agent 4 has been busy with ranked battles since the last time she beat you and Octavio. Says she needs to keep her skills sharp.” Marie smiles and sits back slightly. “She actually is pretty damn good, mixes up her strategy based on the enemy team's approach. She once won a Tower Control match without ever setting foot on the tower, all she did was draw the enemy team away and corner them. It was really impressive I must say.”   
  
Callie nods. “Uh huh, and you totally were just watching her for agent reasons and not for any other reason right?” Callie takes a dramatic slurp from her can after posing the question.

Marie visibly blushes. “H-hey! My reasons for watching Agent 4 do literally everything are perfectly reasonable!” Marie pauses “Wait no that came out wrong.”   
  
Callie just laughs. “Oh Marie, you’re too easy to get a rise out of. Weather you like 4 that way or not is your business, I just like poking fun.”

Marie pouts before returning to her beverage, giving Callie the stink eye while she slurps down her drink.

As if hearing her number summoned her, Agent 4 pops through the grate into Octo Canyon, already in full Agent gear. The tentacles on her head are short, sort of like Pearl’s, but ever so slightly thinner. She also stood about the same height as Marie, and had a look in her eyes that said “I will try to be your friend first, but I will kill you if you cross me.”

“Oh, hey girls, didn’t realize you’d both be down here today. What’s up?” Agent 4 walks over to the pair sitting on the ground.

“Hi four! Marie was running experiments and I was bringing Cola for us to drink.” Callie smiles and waves for Four to join them, materialising another can of Cola for her.

Four gingerly snags the Cola out of Callie’s hand, pops it open, and takes a swig. 

“Mmmm that hit the spot. Been doing ranked all day and I didn’t have time to stop for anything before popping by.” Four smiles and sits down next to the pair. “So what have you found out? From the reports, that Kamabo ink is NASTY stuff.”

“Like you wouldn’t believe. But I have just made a breakthrough. It absolutely HATES the cold!” Marie beams with excitement causing 4 to smile in response. “One ice cube is enough to evaporate an entire ink tank’s worth”

“Seriously? That’s amazing! And if everything you’ve told me about Kamabo is true, then for sure that intel will no doubt come in handy.” Four smiles and takes another swig, Callie and Marie do the same. “Any other developments?”   
  
“Just one, it acts a lot like how Inkling and Octoling ink should behave, but it seems almost… alive. Like if I left it outside of a container it might just start squiggling away.” Marie stops for another sip “I know this because that’s what happened when I was gathering the samples. Thanks to Kamabo being in shambles due to Eight effectively killing their leader, I was able to sneak in and fill up some ink tanks.”

Callie and Four share a look. Marie knew that look. It was the look her and Callie gave each other whenever Three went off and did something reckless. Four hadn’t gone with her, and neither had Callie, which could only mean one thing...

“You went into Kamabo, ALONE?!” Callie growls, Marie had never seen her cousin growl before and it startled her a little.

“Well, uh, yeah? I needed to run these tests!” Marie defends, her heart starts to race as she realizes how bad Callie is taking this news.   
  
“You have two perfectly capable agents sitting right here next to you, and you didn’t think to contact EITHER of us?!” Four spat. Now Marie was concerned, Four had NEVER raised her voice at her before. Four had always been kind and gentle, this was a side of Four that terrified her.

“Uh…” Marie was struggling to justify her actions now. Her mind raced to try and think of a reason, any reason, why she hadn’t called on either of them for help. “I was in a hurry?”   
  
“Marie, Kamabo is dangerous. Gramps told us what happened didn’t he? Agent 3 nearly got herself killed!” Callie’s words were starting to waver, her eyes were welling with tears. Her entire body is starting to shake as her composure weakens, she’s breaking down in front of Marie’s eyes.

“Callie, I-I-” Marie chokes out, her mind playing images in her head of how she felt when Callie got taken by Octavio and how devastated she was. How could she possibly risk doing the same to Callie?   
  
“WHAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOU?!” Callie yelled, tears streaming down her face now. “What if you got too far from a respawn pad and got cornered?! What if it did to you the same thing it did to Three?! What if…” Callie choked back a sob. “What if we lost you forever?”

Marie couldn’t think. Callie, her best friend and cousin, was breaking down right in front of her… and it was her fault. Marie can’t bring herself to even attempt to defend her actions, she did wrong and Callie is proving it. Marie just grabs Callie and pulls her into a tight hug, keeping her there as she speaks her words to her.

“I’m sorry Callie. I should’ve at least let you know I was going in on my own. I just didn’t want you to worry.” Marie now has tears welling in her own eyes. “I promise it won’t happen again.”   
  
Callie squeezes Marie tighter. Crying into her cousin’s shoulder. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing Marie, it made every single one of her hearts ache. Marie was more than a cousin to her, she was more like her sister than anyone else she’s ever known.   
  
“You better not!” Callie sniffles, regaining some composure as she holds tightly to Marie. Callie doesn’t ever want to let go. “Or I’m sending Agent 3 after you!”   
  
That comment makes both the Squid Sisters giggle, and slowly they come apart, their faces stained by dried tears. Four awkwardly sips on her drink. Marie wipes Callie’s face, looking her cousin in the eyes.

“I love you Callie, and I’m sorry I ran off like that. Please don’t be mad with me.” Marie smiles, hoping for forgiveness from her cousin.    
  
Callie chokes back another sob. “I love you too Marie, I just… I remember what happened to me with Octavio, and I got scared. I should never have put you through that.”   
  
Callie rubs her eyes, sniffling. She felt so bad about what happened and the thought of the same thing, or worse, happening to Marie tore her apart.

Four’s can runs empty at exactly the wrong time and she accidentally makes a loud slurping noise. Callie and Marie instantly remember that they’re not alone, and scoot slightly away from each other, booth looking flustered. 

“S-sorry Four, we kinda forgot you were there, caught up in the moment.” Callie rubs the back of her neck and giggles awkwardly. Marie, on the other hand, just averts her gaze and blushes.

“No, no! It’s okay! Honestly that felt like it had been building since… well since the last time I beat you Callie. No offense.” Four smiled like a gremlin causing Callie and Marie to both roll their eyes and nod in agreement in the same motion.

“We needed to get that out. There’s probably a lot more we need to talk about too, but, I’m just glad you’re okay Marie. You’re my cousin and I care about you. We may as well BE actual sisters.” Callie smiles, the warmness returning to her face. 

“Yeah, honestly I still feel awful for a lot of the things I’ve said either to or about you. Especially when we were doing the news.” Marie looks to the ground, she’s not proud of a lot of words that have come out of her mouth.   
  
Callie waved her hand to dismiss that thought. She knew Marie was just playing for the cameras, they cared about each other too much for either of them to actually mean any hurtful things.   
  
“Don’t worry too much about it, there was only ever one or two that actually stung, and even then not for very long. It was part of the show, hyped up the Splatfests a lot.” Callie shared a smile with Marie.

“Anyways. Uh, is there anything you need me for? Stray zapfish gone missing? Octarian activity in strange places?” Four breaks the silence. She wasn’t dressed in her hero uniform for decoration, though Marie certainly didn’t mind her appearance in it.

“Honestly? Nothing. Kamabo might be a cause for concern, but until we know more, any missions related to it are strictly intelligence gathering. Don’t get me wrong, you’re a fine agent, but you’re a fighter. You wouldn’t be my first choice for a stealth mission.” Marie smiles at Four. “However if Kamabo becomes hostile for any reason, you’d be the first person I’d call.”

  
Four smiles, feeling appreciated. 

“I know my limitations, I could probably do intelligence gathering if you absolutely needed me to, but I’d be nowhere near as good as you are, Miss Factopedia.” Four winks at Marie making her blush. “Alright then, if that’s it I’m gonna head home then. Might stop at AmmoKnights before I get too far, see if any new weapons are available and say hi to Sheldon… if he’ll let me get a word in.”

Four heads for the grate, Callie and Marie waving as she leaves. Four transforms into her squid form and jumps through the grate, heading back to Inkopolis Square. Callie turns to Marie, whose face is still slightly green with a blush. 

“OH HOHO! YOU DO LIKE HER!” Callie calls out. “I KNEW IT!”

This prompts Marie to blush harder and turn away from her cousin. 

“N-no! It’s not like that! I-I just admire her skills is all!” Marie is terrible at hiding her feelings, they’re painted on her face like ink in a turf war.   
  
“Marie. I’ve known you for a very long time, I can tell you’re crushing hardcore.” Callie smirks, this time it was her turn to tease her cousin.   
  
“Shut up! I am not!” Marie blushes harder, completely counteracting her statement.

Callie is not convinced, but decided she’d teased her cousin enough for the day.

“Oh fine. Sooner or later you’re gonna have to be honest with yourself. Anyways, I should head home. It’s been a long day and I just want to put my PJs on and stagnate for the rest of the day.” Callie gets up to leave, but before heading through the grate, she turns to Marie. “If you ever have to go back down there, please let me come with you. I don’t want to lose you.”

And with that, Callie disappeared into the grate, leaving Marie alone. Marie, wiping her face of stray tears, returns to the task at hand. She has one more ink tank’s worth of Kamabo ink, and she wants to know how it reacts when out in the open rather than in the confides of an ink tank.

“Here goes nothing.” She pops open the top of the final ink tank, and pours a little bit onto the ground, before quickly sealing up the tank again. She first just observes it, seeing what it does while just sitting on the ground. It pulses with a faint glow, almost like a heartbeat. Before long, it starts to shift around, spreading slightly along the ground. Marie pulls out another ice cube from her pack, and tosses it in the middle of the small puddle she made.

The substance reacts far less violently than it did inside of a sealed ink tank. Within a 3 inch radius of the ice cube, the substance evaporated instantly, however the rest of it remained. Marie had figured it would react differently but she was still surprised at how much still evaporated. She then pulled out her charger and fired across the remaining puddle, and it was gone. She gently poked around the ink she shot to see if the substance had tried to absorb into her ink. Much to her relief, it had not.

“Okay, Three wasn’t kidding when she said this stuff was nasty.” Marie comments to no one. She turns to the mostly full ink tank with the Kamabo sludge inside of it, pops out one last ice cube, and drops it in.

“There. That’s enough experimentation. I think if I pass this intel on to Sheldon he could make a weapon we can use in case Kamabo tries anything again.” Marie takes out her notepad and scribbles down her findings. Before she heads back to Inkopolis however, she walks over to where Octavio and her grandfather, Cap’n Cuttlefish, were situated.

“Hey gramps. Hey grumps.” Marie says to The Cap’n and the captive DJ respectively.

“Oh Marie! So good to see you. How’ve you been?” Cap’n beams, happy to see his granddaughter. Octavio, on the other hand, just grumbles.

“Been doing pretty good, found a major weakness in that Kamabo ‘ink’ so I’m gonna pass the intel on to Sheldon to see if he can fashion a weapon designed around it.” Marie smiles, taking a seat beside the Cap’n “what about you? What are you up to?”

The old captain sighs. “I’ve been keeping my eyes on Octavio mostly. He seems to be pretty content with his place now. I think realizing his troops were defecting caused him to re-evaluate his life choices.” 

“I did what I thought was right for my people.” The old DJ mumbles. “It was never personal.”   
  
Marie and the Cap’n glare at Octavio. Absolutely not satisfied with his answer at all. Not that he could really say anything that they would be satisfied with at this point.

“So what was that nonsense with Callie then?” Marie spits as she scowls at Octavio.

The DJ winces, he knew there was no justifying that. There was no line that he could say to make it like he was just trying to help. In that moment, he admitted to himself, he was the bad guy.

“It was… a mistake. I was blinded by revenge.” Octavio sighs, looking down at the ground through his snowglobe. “I don’t expect you to forgive me. Just know that I realise now I was wrong.”

Cap’n and Marie share a look, silently saying that while they believe he does regret his actions, he still cannot be trusted. He’s committed atrocities that have forever stained his reputation among them.

“Maybe so, but your actions are still inexcusable.” The old Cap’n says, putting his hand on Octavio’s snowglobe. “I want nothing more than for our two races to see peace, and without you in the way, we finally have the best shot in over a hundred years of achieving it.”

Octavio sighs loudly. Averting his gaze from the pair.

“You are right Cap’n. You have always been right.” Octavio sighs, it took him over 100 years to realize what he should’ve known all along.   
  
Cap’n chuckles to himself.

“Oh if only you’d have said that before the war. We could’ve built the world together Octavio.” The old Inkling sighs, remembering days long since passed. “But one thing I can commend, is your dedication to your people. You’ve made mistakes, who hasn’t. But, you were always trying to help your kind.”   
  
Craig knows that Octavio is feeling genuine remorse for his actions, and while he can’t bring himself to forgive him for what he’s done, he can at least offer him the simple kindness of not ignoring the good intentions. Ignoring the good would only drive Octavio further from the light and Craig wanted to avoid that.   
  
The old Octopus in the snowglobe can’t help but smile. For the first time in over a hundred years, he could finally feel at peace with himself. His people were suffering, they were lost and stuck underground. He had tried everything he knew for his people, but he knew that he wasn’t the man for the job anymore.

“Thank you Cuttlefish, it means a great deal to me to hear you say those words.” The old DJ nods to Craig, then pauses for a moment before turning his attention towards Marie. “Marie, if you haven’t already, I suggest you smash those Hypnoshades. Smash them until there’s nothing left. I designed them so that if she sees them, she’s going to subconsciously want to put them back on.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Marie questions, bringing her hand to rub her chin. Octavio didn’t seem like the type to give up information like this willingly, and yet here he was, telling them something that no doubt would’ve given him a tremendous advantage should he desire to betray them.

“Because… I finally accept what must happen for my people. I’ve led them for so long but look where it got them. Still trapped underground. I am not the king my people need, nor am I the one they deserve.” Octavio sighs, he’s given up trying to take over inkling kind and force them underground. The Octolings leaving his ranks and being accepted with open arms in Inkopolis have lead him to realize that peace is an option. But he knows he’s not the one to lead them to it.

Marie nods, making a mental note to actually figure out where those damn shades got put, before standing to leave. She goes over and gives Cap’n a hug before turning to face Octavio one last time. She has some parting words for him that she needs to say before she feels she can leave.

“I appreciate everything you’ve said to me.” She quips, but before Octavio can respond, she adds the rest of her thought. “But if you even consider hurting my family ever again, even as a passing thought, I will personally tear you limb from limb.”   
  
Marie then turns dramatically, putting the surgical mask over her face so the populous won’t notice her, and returns through the grate to Inkopolis, leaving Octavio and Cuttlefish alone.

“She’s uh, intense.” Octavio states, his pupils seemingly a lot smaller than before Marie’s comment. If you looked closely you’d also be able to see that he was visibly shaking.

The Cap’n nods, takes a sip from his tea, then turns to face Octavio, staring him directly in the eyes.

“And she’s not joking either.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kamabo Sludge is nasty stuff, I'd recommend keeping your distance.


	4. A time for firsts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three and Eight have been spending a lot of time together, and are quickly starting to realize how they truly feel about each other. But in stereotypical fanfiction fashion, both of them are scared that the other doesn't share their feelings! But Come on this is an Agent 24 fic, they do figure it out in the end.

Agent 3 had been spending a lot of time with Agent 8, between battles and lunch outings, she practically saw her every day. Agent 3 also got intel from Marie that Kamabo ink hates the cold, like a lot. She had taken to putting an ice pack on her eye every night before bed, and as a result hadn’t had her scar flare up in over a month. All in all, Agent 3 was having a wonderful time. So why was she pacing her apartment? Why was she struggling to find the words she wanted to form? The answer, of course, was Agent 8.

Three knew for a fact that she was in love with the Octoling. At first she thought it was just a little crush, and she didn’t want to pursue anything yet because she didn’t know that much about Eight yet. She didn’t want to rush into things based on appearance alone. Now? Now she knew just about all there was to know about the girl. From the way she laughs at a bad joke, to the way she cries during a sad movie. She loved nearly everything about her, she couldn’t deny it.

Three wanted to make things official with Eight, she wanted to keep doing everything they were doing now, and more. She wanted to wrap her arms around Eight’s shoulders and pull her into a kiss. But she was afraid, afraid that she’d scare Eight away. Afraid she didn’t share her feelings, that Eight just wanted to be friends. Close friends, but still just friends. She was worried that if she asked Eight out and she said no, it would result in ruining their friendship due to the deadly awkwardness.

Eight, on the other hand, was faring no better.    
  
Eight paced her room, she kept typing things into her phone then deleting them just as fast. Her frustration grew with every line she wasn’t satisfied with. Three was one of the best things to happen to her since she escaped the Metro. Sure Pearl and Marina had taken her in and cared for her, but Three had befriended her and took the time to understand and spend time with her. Pearl and Marina were more like her moms than her friends.

Eight glanced at the clock, she’d been trying to come up with the least awkward way to ask Three out for the better part of TWO HOURS, and she was still never confident enough to hit send. 

“AUGH! Why is this so HARD!” Eight flung her phone across her room onto her bed. “Why is it so hard to just say HI I LIKE YOU AS MORE THAN A FRIEND LET’S DATE!” 

Eight falls onto her bed and buries her face into her pillows and screams. Why was she so nervous? She was pretty sure Three liked her back, and even if she hadn’t considered it maybe she’d be willing to give it a try? They’ve become so close with all of their battling and hanging out. Eight could just never form the words when it came to actually TALKING to her!

Eight hears a knock on the door, and the muffled voice of Marina speaks through it.   
  
“Eight? You okay? I heard yelling.” Marina’s voice seemed to calm Eight slightly, her concerned tone making Eight realize she’d been entirely too loud, especially with how distressed her tone must’ve been.   
  
Eight takes a moment to breathe, calming herself as best as she can before standing up from her bed and making her way over to the door. She reaches up and grabs the handle before turning it and opening the door for Marina.

“Hey Marina, sorry for the yelling. I’m just frustrated.” Eight sighs, her face laden with an obvious blush.

“What’s going on?” Marina steps into the room and sits on Eight’s bed, motioning for her to take a seat beside her. Eight quickly does so and she feels like she can finally just speak her mind.   
  
“It’s Three!” Eight cries. “I just, I don’t know how to articulate how I feel and I’m afraid of doing it wrong.”

“Well, how DO you feel about her?” Marina smiles, making sure Eight knows she’s not going to judge her next words. “Tell the truth, I want to know how you feel so I can help.”

“I think… I think I’m in love with her.” Eight states bluntly. “But I’m afraid if I tell her that, she’ll think I’m coming on too strong or tell me that she doesn’t like me that way. I don’t want to lose what I already have with her!”   
  
Marina places her hand on Eight’s shoulder, and squeezes it gently to ground Eight in the moment and causing her to turn and look at her. Marina gives Eight a reassuring smile, stroking her shoulder gently with her thumb to keep Eight from stressing too much.

“I’m sure that wouldn’t happen, I’ve seen how she looks at you every time she comes over to pick you up before you two go turfing. She cares a great deal about you.” Marina attempts to reassure Eight, but somehow her words do nothing to calm the Octoling she took in.

“That’s just it. I don’t want to lose that! What if she just sees me as a close friend and doesn’t want to pursue something like that with me? What if by asking her, she stops wanting to be my friend?” Eight can feel tears welling in her eyes at the thought of losing Three. She’d rather stay friends than lose her altogether.   
  
Marina sighs heavily, she knows Eight is worried but she also knows that there’s no way her fears would be realized. She’s seen the way Three acts around her, she can tell that Three is crushing just as hard as Eight is. She tries to subtly hint this to Eight hoping to calm her down.

“Sweetie, let me tell you something. Three may be a hardass, but she’s not a horrible person. If she didn’t share your feelings, you’d continue to be friends. But I don’t think that would be a problem anyways.”

Before Eight can get Marina to clarify her meaning, Eight’s phone dings. She turns around and grabs it off the bed to see what caused it to sound off, her eyes going wide as she looks at who the message is from and she freezes, afraid to open it.

“Oh no, it’s Three.” Eight says, her hearts racing. Marina pats her on the back and flashes her a warm smile, calming her slightly. Reluctantly, she opens the notification to see what it says.

\--

Agent 3: Uh hey Eight, I was wondering if we could like, talk? Just one on one? I’ve got something I want to tell you and… It would be best said in person.

Eight’s mind is racing now, what did Three want to talk about? And why couldn’t it be said over text or even over the phone?   
  
TheGr8Agent8: Yeah that sounds good, where and when?   
  
There was a long pause, Marina was peering over her shoulder to see the conversation but Eight didn’t care. Eight just wanted to know what Three was being so cagy about.

Agent 3: Uh, I could jump over, or you could come here. Either is fine, I just need to talk to you privately.

TheGr8Agent8: I’ll come over, Pearl is the opposite of private.

Agent 3: Okay, uh, see you in a sec I guess?

\--

“Oh gods oh fuck what could she possibly want to talk about?” Eight was a nervous wreck. “Does she secretly hate me and now she’s coming clean? What is it?!”   
  
Marina chuckled, patted Eight on the back, and stood to leave the room.   
  
“I think you should just head over there, and if she breaks your heart, just know that Pearl and I will be over there in an instant to rip hers out.” She smiles before leaving the room.   
  
Marina always had a way of calming her down, it was a gift. Eight decided that if Three wanted to talk in person, it must be important. She didn’t want to show up in sweatpants, but she also didn’t want to adorn a dress or a suit. She frantically searched through her clothes, tossing aside different shirts and pants, trying to come up with a look that doesn’t come off as trying too hard while also not coming off as not trying at all. 

After nearly half an hour of clothes digging, she decided she should just wear the outfit she had worn the very first time her and Three hung out. The Orange tee shirt, the simple baseball cap, and the red lace-up shoes, paired with a pair of jeans. It was simple but it looked good… and had the added benefit of feeling nostalgic.

Pearl and Marina helped her make sure her outfit was fully cleaned and looked good, just like they had before she went to see Three the first time. She felt a pang of hope in her hearts, maybe Three DID feel the same way and that’s why she wanted to talk in person. But Eight couldn’t let herself dwell on that thought too long, she didn’t want to get that hope dashed too harshly.

“Okay, I got this.” She said, making her way to the jump pad. Marina and Pearl had given her a hug before she left, giving her that much more emotional strength. Finally, she reached the jump point, input Three’s apartment into the keypad, and when the pad flashed and shifted to the dark blue her tentacles and ink were at the moment, she knew it was ready.

Super jumps never take very long, the longest legal jump taking thirty seconds at max, but every second spent in the air felt like freedom for Eight. Super jumping in Kamabo was very different, the air was musky and thick, and it felt like it was trying to grab her. But the air on the surface was light, like all it wanted to do was wave at her as she passed by.

Before long, she had landed on the rooftop. She straightens her shirt and makes sure it’s sitting right before walking over to the keypad for the door, and buzzes Three’s apartment. Without even a word from the speaker the door buzzes and lets her in. She carefully walks into the building, makes her way down to the floor that Three lives on. She carefully looks around, she’d never been in this hallway alone and it was mildly unsettling, she decides it would be best to get into Three’s apartment sooner rather than later, and heads to the door.

Eight knocks on the door lightly and she swears she hears something thud on the ground, like someone falling over, before hearing a clamouring towards the door. The door swings open to reveal Three, standing in front of Eight. Three was wearing a button down purple shirt, with small anchor patterns on it in black, she had on a fresh pair of black jeans, was that a tag still attached to them? And her feet were adorned in purple sneakers with black laces. Her head would have her studio headphones on, but they were wrapped around her neck at the moment.

“Oh! Eight! Come in please!” Three smelled… nice. Strangely nice. Like she murdered a family of flowers and bathed in their scent. In fact, her entire apartment looked considerably more put together. Eight remembers there being a lot more… trash everywhere. Like not a lot, but enough to be noticeable. How much time HAD Three spent getting ready for this… talk?

**Two hours ago** :

“Okay she’s coming here.” Three said to herself, silently celebrating and also panicking because of how nervous she is. And then she starts looking around her apartment. “Holy FUCK why am I a pig.”   
  
Three grabbed as many garbage bags as she could find and hastily filled them with every scrap of paper, empty package, or other object that simply didn’t belong.The bags were completely full, she shoved them into her closet and told herself she’d take them to the bin later, Eight would be here soon. Oh lord there’s crumbs all over the floor too. 

“Where’s my vacuum?!” Three frantically looks through each room and closet in her apartment trying to find it, she KNOWS she has one so where is it? Three did finally find her vacuum, still in its box, with a bow and a note attached. 

“I assume you don’t own one of these, so I am being a responsible friend and giving you one. - Marie”   
  
Three had originally been upset at Marie for it, but now she’d have to send her a thank you card. Three vacuums up her floor as best as she can, trying desperately to get all the crumbs off the floor. It took a while, a lot longer than she had expected, but she finally gets the floor clear of crumbs. Her apartment no longer looks like a tornado went through it. 

Three finally had her apartment in order. But then she realized, she’s still wearing her sweat stained tank top, and an old pair of shorts that looked like she spilled tomato sauce all over (Because she had). Three’s internal freakout continued. She spent so much time trying to get her apartment in order that she hadn’t gotten  _ herself _ in order!

“Fuck, fuck fuck.” Three ran into her room, once again ripping apart her clothing supply, until finally she found something suitable. Under her entire pile of discarded clothes were two shopping bags. She was glad she went clothes shopping the other day, otherwise she’d have nothing but basic shirts and dirty clothes to wear. She also grabbed some air freshener while she was out, because Eight had commented on how Three’s apartment smelled like burnt cheese. Which of course it did.

Three sprays her entire apartment with the stuff, making sure she gets it into the soft fabrics so it holds the scent and gets rid of whatever odor was in it from before. She finishes basically coating her apartment with the freshener before quickly turning the can around and spraying herself as well. 

“There, now I’m fresh.” She states as she sets the now empty can of air freshener down. She looks at her clock and sees how long she spent cleaning and realizes that Eight should be arriving soon. She knew that she’d need time to get ready to come over, especially with how cryptic her message was, but she hadn’t fully expected it to take quite this long.

Finally, her intercom buzzed and she freezes. She looks down at the empty can of air freshener next to her then over to the buzzer on the other side of the room. She then expertly throws the can at the intercom and hits the “door” button, allowing whomever it was to access the building, as Three had assumed it would be Eight.

Moments later there was a knock at her door.

**Back to present** :

Eight blushed as she looked at Three, she looked amazing. No doubt the Squid could pull of a suit if she wanted to, the button down looking so good on her was proof. She stepped through the door and Three closed the door behind her.

“S-so, what was so important that you had to talk to me in person, alone, with no witnesses?” Eight asks, trying to keep the mood light while also getting to the point quickly.   
  
Three blushed hard, her face nearly completely orange with the warmth of her ink. Three was struggling to form words, she was biting her lip a lot and any time she tried to comment the words would get stuck in her throat.

“Three?” Eight tilts her head, looking at Three quizzically, trying to make out the thoughts that are going through the Inkling’s mind.   
  
Three took in a deep breath, looked Eight dead in the eyes, and with the split second of courage she has, she manages to squeak out.

“Eight, I think I want to be more than what we are now.” Three manages to force out before her mind starts reeling. She hopes it wasn’t coming on too strong but she just desperately wants to be more than just friends with the Octoling.   
  
Eight blushed, now she was struggling to form words. 

“Wh- what do you mean?” Eight asks, silently celebrating but not wanting to show it just yet just in case it’s not what Three actually meant.   
  
“I mean-” Three bit her lip again, if Eight wasn’t busy freaking out she’d think it was cute. “I want to… I want to go out with you. Like on dates.”   
  
Eight.exe has stopped responding.

Three looks at Eight, her face turning the same shade of blue her tentacles are, Three can’t decipher if it’s a good response or a bad one. She waves her hands over her face trying to get her attention, she just asked her out and now she’s frozen?

“Uh.. Eight?” Three waves her hand in front of Eight’s face again, hoping to get some kind of response to her reveal.   
  
As if her comment snapped her back to reality, Eight looks Three dead in the eyes, before leaping on her and tackling her to the ground. Eight was a LOT stronger than Three realized, She was squeezing her very tightly and she seemed to be… was she actually Squee-ing?   
  
“YES! OH YES! I WOULD LOVE TO THREE!” Eight squeezes Three tighter. “I’M SO HAPPY YOU FEEL THE SAME WAY I DO!”

“Ack! Eight! I can’t breathe!” Three chokes out.

“AH! Sorry!” Eight lets go of Three, blushes harshly, and stands back up. “Sorry, I just, I got excited.”

Three stumbles back to her feet quickly as well. Her mind currently just screaming “STRONG GIRL” and her face plastered with an orange blush. Three had always known Eight was strong, fighting for your life through those tests in Kamabo, PLUS having a military background, meant she was definitely no pushover. But she never expected THIS.

“It uh, it’s fine? I mean I’m not hurt so yeah I’m not complaining.” Three what the fuck why would you say it like that?

Eight breathes a sigh of relief. 

“Oh thank the gods. I just really like you and I don’t wanna hurt you.” Eight smiles and bounces lightly, beyond excited that Three shares her feelings.

Three just laughs and awkwardly rubs her neck, trying to hide the fact that her blush is the same colour as her tentacles and failing miserably.

“Trust me, it would take a bit more than that to hurt me. I mean, secret agent right?” Three gently bumps Eight’s shoulder with her fist and gives her a smile. Eight returns the smile, but before too long they’re standing there. Awkwardly. Not talking.

The silence was deafening, neither wanted to say anything but both desperately wanted to speak. Eight shuffled and looked at the floor, her right arm behind her back grabbing her left. Three was looking at her walls, her ceiling, her floor, everything except where Eight was standing. They both knew the other liked them back, and yet that somehow made the next part that much more difficult.

Finally, after eternities pass, Eight breaks the silence between the two blushing morons.

“Hey, uh, Three? Would you like to uh, s-sit on the couch and watch something?” Eight struggled to get every word out, she desperately wanted to just be close to Three. Eight didn’t want to deal with all of this… AWKWARDNESS!

Three, snapping out of her dumbassery, perks up immediately and returns her gaze to the Octoling standing in front of her whom she had just professed her feelings towards. 

“Oh, uh, yeah? What do you wanna watch?” Three’s mind was a puddle, a puddle of goop, a puddle of useless goop. Three’s mind just kept repeating “Cuddle on the couch” and that just made her blush worse.

“Uh, anything I guess?” Eight paused. She was thinking, Three could tell that Eight, and it scared her. Eight was trying to decide something and finally she makes up her mind. “Oh fuck, I’m just gonna go for it.”   
  
“What do you mea-!” Three was cut off as Eight quickly closed the distance, grabbed the collar of her shirt, and instantly pulled Three’s lips against her own. Three was startled at the forwardness of the Octoling, but damn if she wasn’t going to enjoy this moment. Three wrapped her arms around Eight, who in turn used her free hand to grab Three’s waist and pull her closer. Three and Eight’s lips felt perfect against each other, Three’s were tough but with a pleasant texture, while Eight’s were tender and smooth.

Eventually, however, they had to breathe. Three and Eight parted, their faces again flush with warm ink, but this time they were looking right at each other. Their breaths were shallow, their hearts were racing, and they both wanted more.

Three, not taking her hands off of Eight, glances over to the couch, then back to Eight.

“Want me to put in something we’ve both seen so we don’t need to actually watch it?” Three smirks as she glances back to Eight. Eight giggles, smiling back at Three.

“Absolutely.” Eight smiles and pecks Three on the lips quickly, encouraging the Inkling to work quickly.   
  
Three ends up throwing in the first movie they watched together. “Splat Hard”. Eight could see why Three liked it, lots of action and violence. Eight actually enjoyed it more for how excited Three got during the action heavy scenes. But Three wasn’t paying attention to the movie right now, and neither was Eight.

  
When the movie started, Eight was just simply leaning her head on Three’s shoulder. However within a few minutes, Eight’s face had gotten in front of Three’s. Eight and Three melted into each other. Eight would passionately kiss Three’s lips and Three would graciously return the gesture.

But Eight wanted more. Eight wasn’t content just to sit next to Three and kiss her, so Eight climbs on top of three and straddles her, Eight’s legs falling on either side of Three’s own. She places her thumb on Three’s chin and smirks before leaning in for another kiss, this time gently biting Three’s bottom lip, eliciting a moan from the inkling.

Eight giggles slightly, sucking on Three’s bottom lip and occasionally pressing her teeth against it, Three is helpless against the assault. Just when Three thought Eight couldn’t do any better, she pulls her lips away from hers, and without warning leans in closer and bites her shoulder ever so slightly less gentle than when she did it to her lip.

Three moans loudly, she’s never experienced this before. And just where did EIGHT learn it? Eight moves from Three’s shoulder up to her neck and again leaves a small bite whilst also sucking on it a little, causing Three to gasp. Eight pulls away again and looks at Three, the blushing mess under her.

“How was that?” Eight smirks, clearly satisfied with having taken control of the situation.

Three, through her panting and racing hearts, was only able to squeak out one word, fortunately for both of them, it’s the only word Eight needs to hear.

“More.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy folks! Author here just coming in to promote the new Agent 24 discord server! You can go ahead and join it here! - https://discord.gg/rjSuqBh


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